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Thursday, January 4, 2018

So Stranger Things season 2 was out a while back. My best mate Heather (who lives in New Zealand) wanted me to wait so we could binge watch the series together then we can bitch/fan-girl about the show together afterwards. A perfect plan except I can no longer sit and watch TV without doing something with my hands... I get fidgety.

I needed a knitting project. One that's so easy I wouldn't need to look at it much. One without a complicated pattern, preferably just knit and purl all the way with minimal increase/decrease. So I dug out my baby cardigan patterns and decided on the Sirdar Baby Crofter wrap:

I LOVE the Baby Crofter series. The yarns are pre-printed with a Fair Isle effect so all you have to do is a stocking stitch and the finished product will come out like it's been intricately patterned. Plus its base is the Sirdar Snuggly series so it's super soft with a bit of elasticity in it so it's a pleasure to knit. (I know I sound like a Sirdar brand promoter but I'm not. I just super like this yarn).

And because it self-patterns, the best way to show off this yarn is to do stocking stitch. Thus it's made its way to my 'lazy-knit' category. That's especially so with this wrap cardigan pattern.

Border: few rows of Moss stitch, then it's Stocking Stitch all the way with decreases on neck edge to create the slope. That's it! The back was just Stocking Stitch all the way to arm hole then decrease for shoulders.

Post finishing Season 2 (amazing series!!!) I added a button on the inside, ribbon to fasten to side on the outside and a super cute make-your-own button which opens so you can put anything you like inside. My girl loves her beads and sparkly sequences so I put a couple of flowers and beads in there.

You'd think with all the effort I put into watching Netflix... I mean knitting her cardigan she'd put some effort into modelling the thing for me. No such luck.

For a quick and simple knit, don't think the results were too shabby. Pattern and yarns highly recommended for beginners too. Difficulty is easy, knitting time plus trimmings (minus the Netflix Binge) shouldn't take more than a week or so of leisurely knitting. Specs below:

Sunday, December 31, 2017

I say minion though he really is just an elongated yellow and blue pill plus eye!

This is a relatively simple pattern as I've cheated and used felt for the fiddly bits. The only difficulty is with the legs since they're formed from a tight 4 stitches into a magic ring. Other than that this is a quick pattern to stitch up as presents if you've minion crazy friends (or kids in my case!).

For the prototype I used Patons Regal 4 ply cotton and a 2.2mm hook but I've used embroidery thread before when I've nothing else to hand. The pattern will still work so long as you adjust the size of the felt eye and the google.

Start first with the body:
It's worked from the bum up ;) and is worked in joined rounds (i.e. each round begins with a chain stitch and ends with a slip stitch joining the last and first stitches together).

R7: [Change to yellow] (see vid if you need help with changing colours) 24sc (24)
to
R15: 24sc (24)
R16: *(2sc, dec)* x 6 (18)
R17: *(sc, dec)* x 6 (12)
Stuff body with filling before closing up in next row.
R18: 6dec (6), leave a long yarn tail, thread through front loops to close up. (See vid if you need help with closing up).

For the arms, you can work out where you want them to be on the body, then sticking pins in to mark the positions. For my minion I decided to work the arms between rows 11 and 12, 11 sts apart.

R1: [In yellow] 8ch (8)
Hook onto body using sl st (as shown in vid)

R2: sl st into second ch from hook, then work another 7sl sts along the ch back to starting st, cut off yarn tail.

For the hands we switch to felt. Cut 2 thin strip of black felt to wrap over the end of the arm as gloves. For me, my arm measures around 4mm wide so my black strip was around 7mm wide and 1cm long. Measure your arms to make sure the strip fits your minion.

Fold strip in half and sew onto arm as shown.

The legs can be a bit fiddly but they give the best effect. You have to make sure you're crocheting up vertically from a magic ring of 4 stitches. It gets cramped in there but so long as you make sure you're going upwards properly you're fine!

The feet are also made with felt. Cut a long piece of black felt 7mm wide. Use strip to wrap around the foot. Sew the strip closed around leg and onto leg by passing the needle through the leg a couple of times too then cut off excess as shown.

Wrap black strip around leg, then sew closed.

Pass the needle through the leg too to secure the strip onto leg.

Now you're ready for the eye. Once you're stuffed your body you should have a fair idea how big the eye should be. These measurements worked for me but yours will depend on your minion's finished size.

Cut a circle 1.5cm in diameter in white felt and a circle 5mm in diameter in black felt.

For the eye goggle strap, cut another strip of black felt 7mm wide and 12cm long.

The goggle itself will again depend on the size of your eye. Work the first row of ch sts first, then measure it around the eye to make sure it wraps exactly the circumference of your white eye piece. For my minion I needed 14 scs.

Sew first bib piece onto front of body between rows 6 and 7, fasten off. Then sew second bib piece onto back of body also between rows 6 and 7, fasten off too. Then using the yarn tail from the line of ch sts from the front bib piece, sew the strap to the back piece at the corner, then take your needle through the body and sew the strap securely to the minion's shoulder, just above the arm. Do the same for the strap from the back piece.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

So a lot of you liked my pattern for Gudetama under Bacon Blanket. And some of you even made your own super cute versions like this one from Kiploca:

Kiploca Instagram

Love it! I'm now a fully converted fan of Gudetama and no longer think he's weird. In fact, I love him that much I put a load of Eggy stuff on my X'mas list. Including this comic with lots of cute pics of Gudetama explaining his philosophy on life as a lazy egg.

It has inspired me to start a project. I'm going to do Gudetama crochet patterns for as many of these pictures as I can. But since I have a full-time job I shall do this in the way Gudetama would have done it... Lazily, slowly and possibly never actually finishing. I have done the easier one though - Gudetama Sunny-side Up! Enjoy!

Gudetama Sunny-side Up Crochet Pattern

Side view of Eggy-tama (what my daughter calls him)

What you’ll need:

You can use any type of yarn you
like since slight variation in size won’t matter. I used a very soft
acrylic yarn similar to a 4ply. The yarn manufacturer's hook size
recommendation is 3.5 but I used a 2.5mm hook for a tighter finish. I
always use a smaller hook than recommended for amigurumis to make my
work tighter to better keep in the filling.

Here’s what I worked with:

-Yellow and white yarn (gauge 22sts x 28rows for 10cm swatch)

-2.5mm crochet hook;

-Black and white felt;

-Tapestry needle;

-Polyester filling; and

-Permanent black marker.

Abbreviations:

sc single crochet

sc inc single crochet increase, i.e. work 2 single crochets into the same stitch

Tip: You may find cutting such small bits of felt difficult. It will
help to use a super sharp pair of scissors, e.g. sharp nail scissors for
very well. If it's still too difficult, try dabbing clear nail varnish
onto the felt. This stiffens the felt and allows better control.

To be honest though, the trip to Kino wasn't cheap as I bought two other books as well. Sanrio and Star Wars Origami. Both are great but those characters are more difficult to make. The Disney Tsum Tsum version is easier, great for short attention spans, requires less paper AND it has this project idea which pretty much sold me on the spot.

Instructions are relatively easy. The head is made with one piece of green. The little hands need a 1/4 piece of green, plus 3 white circles for eyes with black pupils drawn on. This would have been more difficult except I have a fab circles stencil ruler.

Only this close-up do I realise how battered my desk is!

The instructions suggested the sharper angle on the chin, so I made some like this and some with the 'plumper' face shape.

Then it was folding... folding... folding...

Big papa alien is a kind and hands-on father

Closest thing I have to a single colour backdrop was blue. So eye-glaring green on blue it was!

I had an IKEA frame lying around so into that the aliens went. The hardest part of the whole assembly was fixing the little aliens in some semblance of disorder so the effect would be little aliens tumbling onto the big one. Not sure I did that very well since I got anal and put them all in neatly non-overlapping positions. If I make another one of these (with a difference character of course), I might actually throw them together for a more natural effect.

Cat wasn't too sure about it but then relaxed and rubbed his face all over it and claimed it as Cat-owned.

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About Me

Hi! I'm Susie and I've been a serial craft hopper for over 5 years... I started off with crochet, which is still my first love, but I've since dabbled in knitting, sewing, felting, origami, jewellery making and even balloon twisting! I can't help it! Whenever I see something handmade that's cute or quirky, I would get distracted from ongoing projects and JUST HAVE TO TRY NEW STUFF! This blog will keep track of all the projects I've tried and tested along my craft hopping journey. It's an unhealthy obsession, guaranteed to clog-up your home with crafting gear and half finished materials... but if you have a high tolerance of mess - come join me! Watch me test out new crafts and techniques and see if you can't get tempted to try a few yourself!